Pench National Park

Pench National Park is in Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh in India. It derives its name from the Pench River that flows through the park from north to south dividing the park into almost equal western and eastern halves, the well forested areas of Seoni and Chhindwara districts respectively. It was declared a sanctuary in 1977 but raised to the status of national park in 1983. In 1992, it was established as a tiger reserve. The park is famous for rafting. In 2011, the park won the "Best Management Award". This park is accessible from Pauni on National Highway 7 and has two famous entry gates, Turiya and Karmajhiri.HistoryThe area of the present Pench Tiger Reserve has been described in Ain-i-Akbari, and is the setting of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.There are 10 villages in the national park, one inside the park (Fulzari) and nine on the periphery.FeaturesPench National Park comprises 758km2, out of which 299km2 form a core, the Pench National Park core area and Mowgli Pench Sanctuary. The remaining 464km2 form the buffer zone.The protected area is covered with small hills and well-stocked teak mixed forest in the southern reaches of the Satpura Ranges. Elevation ranges from 425to. The temperature varies from 4C in December to 42C in May. Average rainfall is 1300mm.